The desire to share experiences, products, and services with others reflects the "feel-good" factor associated with communal interactions. Sharing can also help to alleviate the financial burdens of "big ticket" products and services. The proliferation of the internet in daily life has taken sharing to the virtual world. It has also reinvented traditional consumer behavior, making access, instead of ownership, attractive.

Building personal interconnections is central to food and drink sharing. A third of consumers consider the greatest benefit of sharing food/drinks with people they do not know well to be building a social community.

Virtual sharing is largely driven by younger demographics, particularly digitally native Millennial. For example, over a third claim to share an update on an activity/experience once a week or more on social media platforms, while senior consumers are least likely to do so

While Millennial are driving the sharing economy, consumers aged 3554 aren't far behind, with a similar proportion willing to share food, accommodation, transportation, and household appliances with people they don't know well.